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My dtr is 2 1/2. We still rock her to sleep and I want her to start going to bed on her own. I try to lay her down in her crib but all she does is sing and play. How long should I leave her in there?

I stick my 1 yr. old in his crib. I give him toys and books, turn on a night light, and tell him goodnight. I shut the door behind me. I go check on him an hour later, and he is asleep. He falls asleep way before an hour though.

put her in bed and let her be or else you will drive yourself nuts one way or the other. If you wanted to try and get her a toddler bed and new bedding and such that may help, it helped my 1 1/2 yr old when I moved her to her own bed!

I agree as long as she is not throwing a fit and crying the whole time. Just leave her alone and let her fall asleep when she is tired. Last night my Daughter fell asleep on her bedroom floor "reading" (she can't really read she is only 17 months) But she had a book in her hand and was laying on the rug in the middle of her room. When DH and I were ready to go to bed he went in and put her in her bed. So much easier than the nights she screams her head off for 90 minutes, and we have to keep going back and forth calming her, because she just doesn't want to go to sleep and she wont read, sing, or play to herself.

My son is 15 mnths and we just started this and it only lasted for 3 days!

After we take a bath, we play, have a snack. At 8, I tell him let's go upstairs, read books and go night night. Then me and my S/O pick out a book to read to him, get all cozy on the couch and read the 2 books. Then we lay him in his crib, turn on his mobile, tuck him in, say our goodnights and leave.
We listen to him cry, and if the cry is really bad, then we go up and lay him back down, and checked on him every 5 minutes. By the third night, he was done crying by the time we hit the bottom step.

It's different for every child, but having a bed time is great, and a routine is nice.